One of the problems most frequently encountered by a resident of any type of urban or suburban dwelling is a defective plumbing fixture. Particularly, faucets, defective shower or sink handles and the like seem to be a major problem. One of the reasons explaining it is that some of these plumbing appliances have been in use for a long time and have developed structural defects, such as damaged stems, which necessitate replacement thereof. Still another reason is that the originally installed plumbing fixtures may have lost their initial esthetic appeal and need to be replaced by new fixtures having a modern design.
However, a seemingly easy task of replacement these fixtures can easily turn into a major and expensive project. Mechanically inclined amateurs can encounter quite a few unforeseen obstacles. For example, it is not unusual that the local plumbing store does not stock the particular style of valve stem. This is particular true for old plumbing wherein the manufacturer may have discontinued production or totally changed its design. New fixtures recommended to a buyer may radically differ from the original ones requiring special tools and an expertise of a professional plumber. As is well known, a service of a professional plumber is quite expensive and sometimes can take a few days to fix a persisting problem.
Quite often a resident, realizing that replacement of these parts, for example a shower handle, really is not such big a job, decides that he or she is able to do it on her own and, as a consequence, encounters a problem of fitting new parts to old valve installations. For example, mounting a new handle assembly to old shower heads or tub faucets can become an insurmountable task because untrained residents simply cannot attach new details to old mounts. Even if the mounting stage is successfully completed, adjusting a new handle to operate an old valve stem may be technically impossible because the length of the valve and the overall wall thickness have not been designed to fit modern designs. The reason why the latter situation frequently occurs is because there have been established no generally accepted set of standards in the plumbing industry for setting the length or configuration of valve stems, configuration of handles, etc.
Numerous efforts have been made to solve these problems in the past. Primarily, these efforts have been directed at providing a replacement handle set with a group of small adapters or spuds having a variety of cross sections to fit differently sized and shaped valve stems. An exterior of these spuds is uniform to fit the handle cavity, thereby providing a reliable connection between the handle and the valve stem. U.S. Pat. No. 4,482,009 is an illustrative example of such approach. Typically, a number of spuds is substantial enough to fit a new handle to numerous configurations of the previously installed valve stems, thereby increasing the cost of the set.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,826 discloses a single adapter including a pair of jaws that are displaceable relative to one another to fit differently sized and shaped valve stems. While this system is relatively cost efficient, a structure of the adapter is not comparatively simple and may not be entirely reliable necessitating frequent adjustments, such as tightening a screw which displaces the jaws.
What is needed, therefore, is a handle replacement set that may include one or more valve stem adapters that are easily adjustable to allow a handle to fit differently sized and shaped valve stems. A handle replacement set that is easily attachable to the previously installed mounts is also desirable, as well as a handle replacement set having a simple structure that, at the same time, has an esthetically appealing design.